Half of Gold Output May Not Be ‘Viable’ as Price Sags
By GCRU Gold News on Friday, November 27 2015, 22:25 - Permalink
“The more we continue to produce unprofitable gold, the more pressure we put on the gold price,” Randgold Resources Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said in an interview in Toronto on Friday. “In the medium term, it’s a very bullish outlook for the gold industry. The question is, how long are we going to supply it with unprofitable gold?”
Gold miners buffeted by the drop in prices are shortening the life of mines by focusing only on the best quality ore, a practice known as high grading, which will restrict future output and support higher prices, according to Bristow. He said in a presentation to bankers in Toronto that the industry life span is down to about five years because companies have been aggressively high grading at the expense of future production.